Portland
Observer
Election
Endorsements
‘City
of
Roses’
Volume XLVII • Number 18
Weekend Fun
Cinco de Mayo
to fill downtown
waterfront
See story, page 8
See Opinion, page 11
www.portlandobserver.com
Wednesday • May 2, 2018
Loretta Smith vows to make progress for underrepresented groups in her campaign
for Portland City Council, wanting to direct more resources to aid homelessness
and housing, and calling for the city to do a better job of increasing economic
opportunities for people of color.
Established in 1970
Committed to Cultural Diversity
Jo Ann Hardesty, a longtime activist and former State Representative is running
for the Portland City Council on four issues: Increasing citizens’ access to local
government proceedings, housing and homelessness, green jobs, and police
accountability.
Historic Midterm
Women, people of color surface as top candidates
by d anny P eterson
t he P ortland o bserver
As citizens cast their votes in the next
two weeks on official ballots that have al-
ready hit mailboxes for the May 15 Prima-
ry election, they will consider a diversity
of candidates for what is shaping up to be
a historic contest of city and county posi-
tions, particularly for women and people of
color.
Following a trend nationwide, more
females and other politically underrepre-
sented groups are running for prominent
political seats in local, state, and national
elections this year.
All of the candidates in the Multnomah
County Commission, District Two race are
people of color and some of the top can-
didates that are running for Portland City
Council are women of color, a position of
power not ever held by that demographic
in the city’s 167 year history.
Hot topic issues like police and justice
reform, systemic inequity against people of
color, a desire for improved mental health
services, affordable housing, and humane
approaches to homelessness appear as the
main drivers of interest for those seeking
office this year.
Jo Ann Hardesty, who is running for Dan
Saltzman’s seat on Portland City Council,
said she became resolved to run when she
attempted to testify on a police union con-
tract negotiation in October 2016. Under
then Mayor Charlie Hales, she could not
enter City Hall due to it being barricaded
by riot police. Hardesty’s lawyer told her
the barricades could have been dissolved if
somebody on city council opposed it.
“That was the day I knew we had the
wrong people on Portland City Council,”
Hardesty told the Portland Observer.
Last year, Hardesty had a meeting with
Saltzman, and let him know she would be
starting a campaign for his seat. The in-
cumbent announced he would not be run-
ning for a sixth term soon after and will
step down when his term ends in January.
Hardesty, the former President of
NAACP Portland chapter has been a long-
time local activist and former member of
the Oregon House of Representatives. She
said she’s running for City Council on four
issues: Increasing citizens’ access to lo-
cal government proceedings, housing and
homelessness, green jobs, and police ac-
countability.
Another top candidate for that same seat
is Multnomah County Commissioner Lo-
retta Smith, who boasts eight years of ex-
perience as the county’s second ever Afri-
can American commissioner. She also has
over 20 years of experience as an assistant
under U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore.
Smith vows to continue priorities
to make progress for underrepresented
groups in Portland, the motivation she said
inspired her campaign. She wants to direct
more resources to aid homelessness and
housing, and calls for the city to do a better
job of increasing economic opportunities
for people of color.
“I’ve spent a lot of time protecting our
seniors and supporting our youth. And
also making sure that we direct funding to
homelessness and housing,” Smith told the
Portland Observer.
Although Smith’s campaign was fined
twice by the Oregon’s Secretary of State’s
office for violating election laws, once for
asking county staff to work at a political
event and another time for not updating fi-
nancial records, she and others have ques-
tioned whether the scrutiny was a distrac-
tion from more important issues.
A mayoral candidate from two years
ago, for example, Jules Bailey, a white
man, announced his candidacy while still
serving as a county commissioner, just as
Smith had, but received little scrutiny at
C ontinued on P age 5